Ripkens Youth Baseball Field At Memorial Stadium Now Open

It was 19 years ago — and about 30 degrees warmer — when Cal and Billy Ripken played in the last game at Memorial Stadium. But on Tuesday, when they replanted home plate in its old spot off East 33rd Street, the past returned as if on a welcome summer breeze.

"It does make you think of all the memories you have of playing here," Cal Ripken Jr., said after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new youth baseball diamond opening in the old home of Baltimore's Orioles and Colts.

"My favorite one is hitting my first home run and shaking Dad's hand," Ripken said of his father, Cal Sr., then the third base coach and later manager of the Orioles. "No words were exchanged, but it was a good moment for a dad and a son."
Joining the Ripkens to cut the red ribbon stretched across the new home plate were Gov. Martin O'Malley, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and other supporters of the $1.5 million project.

The funds were raised by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, which was started by the Ripken brothers in honor of their late father and dedicated to bringing baseball to disadvantaged youths. The project received $400,000 from the state's Program Open Space funds.
"What a fitting tribute to have on this hallowed ground," O'Malley said.

The park will return sports, albeit at the amateur level, to a site that was home to so many great Baltimore pro teams. The diamond has a removable center field fence that will enable it to be converted to a football field — in the same orientation as the gridiron on which the Colts played.

Tuesday's ribbon-cutting was the first time former Baltimore Colt Joe Ehrmann had been back since his playing days.

"It gets your adrenalin pumping," the former lineman said of stepping back on the grounds. "You can hear the band playing in the recesses of your mind. It's great to reclaim this field."

With new housing and other buildings surrounding the site, he and the other former Memorial Stadium denizens at the ribbon-cutting said it took a couple of minutes to get reoriented. But once they did, the details were as clear as if they'd happened yesterday.

"The stadium was rocking," Cal Ripken said, remembering the heart-stopping end to the 1982 season when the Orioles were three games behind Milwaukee with four games to go. "We beat them in a doubleheader. We win Saturday. We're all tied up. The fans come with brooms. We have Jim Palmer on the mound."

Despite the 10-2 loss and the end of the season, Ripken said he still thinks of that series when he drives past 33rd Street. Now, he hopes the kids who will play there will make memories of their own.

Called Youth Development Park, it is the first of 18 such facilities that the foundation plans to open in at-risk communities in six states. This one is to be managed by the adjacent Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Center Y at Stadium Place.

Morgan Scroggings, 12, a student at the nearby Stadium School, was among a group of kids who attended the ceremony and said he looked forward to playing on the field. Maybe not baseball, though.

"I played it once. It's fun, but not as exciting as other sports," he shrugged. "I play football and basketball, and I wrestled for five years."

Which is probably OK with Cal Ripken, who says the park is more than a place for kids to play sports.

"You just want them to find themselves," Ripken said. "You just want them to grow and develop into being good, productive citizens."
www.baltimoresun.com

Second Major Fire In Baltimore Within 24 Hours

A five-alarm fire tore through a pair of historic buildings facing Mount Vernon Place early Tuesday, causing heavy damage to restaurants and offices in the heart of the city's cultural district.

The blaze broke out about 1:30 a.m. in the 800 block of Charles Street in a pair of four-story brick buildings that house Donna's Coffee Bar, restaurants Indigma and My Thai, and several offices.

More than 150 firefighters, many of whom had battled a five-alarm fire on The Block earlier in their shift, worked to control the fire.

Swirls of thick smoke were silhouetted against the twinkling holiday lights on the Washington Monument. Shattered glass rained down on the street as firefighters, perched high on ladders, smashed open windows with axes. Flames crackled along the second and fourth floors of the two buildings as window blinds, wooden window casings and papers swirled down to the ground.

It was unclear early Tuesday in which building the fire had originated. The cause of the fire was not known.

Two alarms of fire trucks, engines and other equipment initially arrived at the fire, but three additional alarms were called as the fire raged for more than an two hours. Police spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said that two firefighters suffered minor injuries, were treated at the scene and taken to local hospitals for treatment. One woman suffered minor chest pains and a man had a slight knee injury, he said.

Just before 3 a.m., fire commanders could be heard on a fire scanner announcing that flames had gone through the roof and ordering all firefighters out of the buildings.

"Be aware there are houses across the street," a commander said. "Be sure no embers go over there."

Firefighters stood on the roofs of adjacent buildings across Charles Street, prepared to extinguish flames if heavy winds carried them across the street.

State property records indicate the building on the corner dates to 1900 and is owned by the 800 North Charles Street Limited Partnership. It was assessed at $1.7 million this year. The second building is owned by a Connecticut company, TMDSD Inc., and was recently assessed at just under $400,000. That building was constructed in 1995, according to property records.

Despite being blasted with water for hours, the blaze intensified around 4 a.m., leading commanders to call for a fifth alarm. Crews arrived from as far away as Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties and commanders could be heard radioing directions to firefighters unfamiliar with the downtown area.

The fourth-floor windows of the buildings glowed bright orange and flames shot up from the roofs.

Equipment filled at least six blocks surrounding the Washington Monument, with crews arriving at a steady pace. The hum of big trucks, whine of sirens and crackling radio transmissions could be heard in the Mount Vernon neighborhood throughout the early morning.

As of 6:45 a.m., streets were still closed within at least two blocks of the fire. Drivers should avoid Charles Street, which is closed between Centre and Eager Streets, as well as Cathedral Street -- closed between Eager and Madison -- and Madison Street, which is closed between Park Avenue and St. Paul Street.

The MTA has diverted routes 3, 11, 61, 64 at Charles and Centre streets, according to the MTA website. Buses will resume their regular routes at Chase and Charles. The Hopkins shuttle has been rerouted to the alternate northbound stop, which is at St. Paul Street and East Mount Vernon Place.

The cold temperatures complicated the firefighters' work as water from hoses froze. Thick layers of ice coated that the streets made sidewalks slippery. Fire commanders had been calling for a salt truck since around 2:30 a.m.; it did not appear that one had arrived two hours later. Firefighters tumbled on the slick streets and grabbed the sides of trucks to keep from falling.

As of 6:45 a.m., slippery conditions still were apparent in that area.
www.baltimoresun.com

'Blasting' Misdemeanor Backlogs

Baltimore Circuit Judge David W. Young cheerfully volunteered his holiday chore list — picking up the turkey, raking the leaves, washing the good china — to those in the courtroom while waiting for a defendant to be brought in for trial.

The man wasn't transported from jail that morning as scheduled, the kind of mistake that usually leads to a postponement. But Tuesday was an exception. The judicial bench had declared a moratorium on deferrals as part of a three-day effort dubbed the "Misdemeanor Blast."

No felony or civil trials were scheduled in Baltimore on Friday, Monday or Tuesday, so that judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers could chip away at the backlog of 1,400 misdemeanor cases — assaults, drug arrests, minor thefts — clogging the courts.

That meant typical delays would not be tolerated. After a quick call to the judge in charge of the criminal division, M. Brooke Murdock, Young announced that the defendant would be fetched. In the meantime, he chatted with the lawyers and handled several drug cases, sentencing a 29-year-old to time served for marijuana possession and a 28-year-old to 18 months in prison for attempted cocaine distribution.

Under state law, anyone charged with a crime in District Court that's punishable by at least 90 days incarceration has a right to ask for a trial by jury, which only the higher Circuit Court can handle. At any given time, three judges are assigned to those cases, but they can't keep up with the requests, which have steadily increased during the past decade.

They're "getting farther and farther behind," Murdock said in an interview. "There are just so many."

Defense attorneys say there's little incentive to plead guilty in District Court because defendants know that the stretched Circuit Court may cut them a better deal simply to clear their cases. The "probations" offered in District Court often turn into "dropped cases" in Circuit Court, attorneys said, and the six-month sentences sometimes become time served.

The Misdemeanor Blast was designed to sweep through several hundred cases quickly, without compromising justice.

"It's not a fire sale," said Albert Peisinger, a felony prosecutor assigned to five cases Tuesday.

Roughly 15 judges were assigned eight trials a day in the hopes that they could clear a quarter of the backlog, about 360 cases that had been repeatedly postponed, Murdock said. Judges called for extra jurors and attorneys who usually handle felony cases stepped forward to pick up the slack.

"All the component parts pulled together to make this a smooth operation," Murdock said.

Most of the cases still ended in plea deals, however, after defendants realized that the court was ready to go to trial, Murdock said. She believes that's why one man, whose case had already been postponed 14 times, took a time-served sentence Monday for fleeing police.

"He had asked for a jury trial," she said, "but he changed his mind and pled guilty."

Murdock was something of a point person for the effort, but she wouldn't claim it as her own. It's been tried before, she said, though she doesn't remember when. And it may be tried again.

"First we want to see how it works and sort of get a sense of whether we actually were successful," Murdock said. "We're trying not to be overly confident. We'll wait until we see the numbers."
www.baltimoresun.com

Arrest Made In Slaying Of Man Found In A Box

WASHINGTON, D.C. - D.C. police have made an arrest in the slaying of a man whose body was found inside a cardboard box on the side of Interstate 70 in Maryland.

Police say 34-year-old Marvin Palencia was arrested without incident Saturday afternoon in Hyattsville, where he lives. He's been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 36-year-old Jacobo Vazquez of Washington.

Vazquez's body was found Tuesday morning in a box alongside westbound I-70 near Frederick.

D.C. police say Vazquez was shot to death on Constitution Avenue near the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 12. The case was initially investigated as a suspicious disappearance. Police
did not release any details about a motive for the slaying.

www.myfoxdc.com

Baltimore's 'Ace of Cakes' Is Canceled By Food Network

The Food Network Friday cancelled "Ace of Cakes," the Baltimore-based reality TV series featuring chef Duff Goldman.

The series set at Goldman's Charm City Cakes will end with the run of its 10th season, which begins in January, according to a spokeswoman for Authentic Television, the California-based production company that makes the show.

“Ace of Cakes has been a Food Network favorite for the past four and half years over the course of 116 episodes,” Bob Tuschman, senior vice president for programming at the cable channel, said in a statement to the Sun. “But all good things must come to an end. The final season of ‘Ace of Cakes’ will begin on-air in January. The Food Network, as well as its millions of viewers, remain passionate about Duff. So, we are currently in the process of developing new show concepts for him.”

The cancellation was first reported Friday by the Hollywood celebrity website TMZ.

The series debuted in 2006 and was instantly one of the highest rated series on the Food Network.

Here's how the network describes the show:

"Meet Chef Duff. Shaping cakes with drill saws and blowtorches, and staffing his bakery with fellow rock musicians, he's not your typical baker. However, he's one of the most sought-after decorative cake makers in the country. Every week at Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, Duff and his team of artists try to meet the demands of creating up to 20 cakes a week, some of which take up to 29 hours to build! From a tilted Dr. Seuss-like seven-tiered wedding cake to an almost perfect replica of Wrigley Field, Duff can build it. Go behind the scenes to see how he and his fellow cake bakers dish up sugar and spice in the most unexpected and entertaining ways."

The show, which is filmed at the bakery on Remington Avenue in Baltimore, can be seen in reruns at 11 p.m. Tuesday nights on the Food Network.

Calls and emails to Charm City Cakes, which is on a Thanksgiving break, according to a recorded message, were not returned Friday.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

Federal Police Officer Gets Probation For Shooting Family Pet, Bear-Bear

Federal police officer Keith Elgin Shepherd was fined and given probation before judgment Friday for shooting a Siberian husky he claimed attacked his pet and was threatening him and his wife at a community dog park in Severn in August.

"We are overjoyed that it's gotten this far," Rachel Rettaliata told Anne Arundel County District Judge Thomas J. Pryal. She and her husband, Ryan Rettaliata owned Bear-Bear, the dog shot in the Quail Run community dog park and injured so severely that it had to be euthanized. "Our lives have been turned upside down."

After a 31/2-hour trial, Pryal called the shooting of Bear-Bear "an overreaction" and said it was unreasonable, causing pain and suffering to the 3-year-old dog.

Pryal said he was ready to convict Shepherd, 32, on charges of misdemeanor animal cruelty and, with the nearest home about 66 yards away, discharging his personal handgun within 100 yards of homes in the Quail Run neighborhood. He offered Shepherd probation before judgment, allowing him to avoid a criminal record if he successfully completes probation.

Shepherd accepted the terms and, barring new criminal charges or not fulfilling the conditions of probation, he will have the opportunity to have his record expunged in three years. He cannot appeal.

Pryal fined Shepherd $500 for animal cruelty and gave him a suspended fine of $1,000 on the handgun charge. During his one-year unsupervised probation, he must complete 80 hours of community service.

During the trial, testimony from the two sides about what happened at the dog park was in conflict.

While on the stand, Shepherd said that Bear-Bear had bitten his dog around the neck, then bared its teeth at him. Seeing no rock or stick to use, he took a few steps back, pulled his personal Glock and shot the dog once, then called 911, telling the dispatcher to make sure animal control officers came to help the wounded dog.

Assistant State's Attorney Kimberly DiPietro argued that Shepherd had other options for handling what Shepherd perceived as a threatening situation for himself, his wife and his German shepherd.

"Did you kick Bear-Bear?" she asked Shepherd in cross-examination.

"No," he replied.

The verdict left the community that has rallied around the Rettaliatas — thousands locally and online — with mixed feelings. About 15 supporters attended part or all of the trial, some carrying "Justice for Bear-Bear" signs outside the courthouse before the trial, others wearing "Justice for Bear-Bear" T-shirts with Bear-Bear buttons pinned to their clothing. The Justice for Bear-Bear Facebook page has more than 15,600 members.

"I think the judge made the right decision," said Pamela Semies, a retiree who came from Halethorpe to attend the trial. "I would have liked to see the judge make the penalty stiffer."

She said she believed the judge made it clear that shooting the dog was the wrong way for Shepherd to handle the situation.

"I don't think Bear-Bear's death was in vain. A person will think a little more next time. Suppose [the bullet] would have ricocheted and hit a child, a person," she said.

Wendy Cozzone, who operates Cheryl's Rescue Ranch in Gambrills and heads the Anne Arundel County Animal Welfare Council, said it was important to see that Shepherd was held publicly accountable for a bad decision that proved fatal to someone's pet.

"I just wish one time, one of these cases, animal abuse cases, a statement would be made. And then someone says, 'Boy, I better not abuse animals or neglect animals. I might get that kind of a sentence,' because the judge says you're going to get the toughest fine you can get," she said. "I guess we take it one step at a time."

The Rettaliatas declined to comment as they left the courtroom. But their expressions were buoyant, a contrast to when they were listening to testimony, when Rachel Rettaliata appeared to sniffle and Ryan Rettaliata looked somberly down at the floor.

David Putzi, Shepherd's defense attorney, said he was not surprised but understood the rationale of the judge's decision.

Shepherd accepted the probation agreement, Putzi said, because "I think he wants to move on."

How this might affect Shepherd's work — he is a civilian police sergeant for the Army at Joint Command Myer-Henderson Hall in Northern Virginia and serves as a sergeant in the Army Reserves — is unclear.

"I think he's optimistic that it won't have too negative an impact," Putzi said. Shepherd, as a federal officer, was allowed to carry a personal weapon while off duty.

The prosecutor was pleased with the trial's outcome.

"I'm happy that he was held accountable for his actions," DiPietro said.

During her cross-examination of Shepherd, she noted that he did not get Bear-Bear's leash to hit him with, did not try to grab the dog's rear legs or take the leash of his German shepherd, Asia, from his wife. His wife did not drop Asia's leash, and neither Shepherd nor his wife retreated from the dog park through any of its three gates, she said.

Rachel Rettaliata's brother, Steven Ryan Kurinij, who lives with the couple, said he'd taken Bear-Bear to the private dog park about 6 p.m., as he often did. The Shepherds arrived later with Asia. The couple asked whether Bear-Bear was friendly, and after Kurinij said yes, the Shepherds said Asia was friendly, too, and entered.

Kurinij described two dogs playing, up on their hind legs making "little grunts," followed by Shepherd's wife screaming and Shepherd shouting.

"He told me, 'You'd better get your dog,' and he pulled out what I thought was a Taser and shot it — in the abdomen" in a sequence that took just seconds. Asked by DiPietro why he didn't jump in to get Bear-Bear, Kurinij replied, "I didn't have time to." Under cross-examination by Putzi, Kurinij said that at no time did it seem to him that the dogs were fighting.

In contrast, Shepherd said the dogs started out playing, but said that once his timid dog backed away, the husky attacked. He described a nearly minute-long sequence that included Bear-Bear's biting his dog around the neck, his wife "calling out hysterically" and him moving to grab Bear-Bear's collar, only to see the husky turn toward him.

He said he shouted a dozen times at Kurinij to get his dog but "he did absolutely nothing." Fearing for his wife as the husky bared its teeth, he shot the dog, he said.

Initially, county police closed the case, said Detective Tom Middleton. But the case was not really closed, he said, because his supervisor had not signed off on it.

Amid a public uproar, County Executive John R. Leopold ordered a full police investigation. Meanwhile, the state's attorney's office was reviewing the initial information and later solicited information from the state attorney general's office and federal officials. Charges were brought about two weeks after the shooting.

The Rettaliatas have adopted two huskies since Bear-Bear was shot. The Shepherd family has moved from the neighborhood.

www.baltimoresun.com

Flag That Flew After 911 To Be In Baltimore

BALTIMORE - A flag that flew over the World Trade Center site after 9/11 is coming to Baltimore in tribute to three police officers who've died in the past month.

The United States Honor Flag will be presented to the family of Officer Tommy Portz on Tuesday. Portz died last week when he crashed his police cruiser into a city fire engine that was stopped on a highway.

The flag is controlled by a nonprofit group that transports it around the country to honor police officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty.

In addition to Portz, the flag is intended to honor Detective Brian Stevenson, who was slain earlier this month, and Officer James Fowler, who died last month in a car accident.

www.wtop.com

FirstGiving - Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter Inc - Sprout and Pickles Page

Hello Everyone.....
As an animal lover and owner I am raising money during a fundraiser for BARCS (Baltimore Animal Rescue And Care Shelter). I volunteer my time as often as I can at this shelter and since I have known about BARCS I have become the owner of the best pets ever! Animals that live at BARCS are animals that the city has cast out for one reason or another.

A few months ago I fostered a dog whose family had to give him up due to job loss and could no longer care for him. He came to me a very sad dog and missed his previous owners so much and the small children that once played with him. He wasn't the prettiest dog in the world and had some severe skin issues. I took him in, changed his food, treated his skin and changed him back into a happy dog. A few weeks ago he was adopted and the last I heard he was going camping on the weekends and going to work daily with his new owner.

Currently I have a cat named Billy Ripkin. Billy came from BARCS and every day he sees me off to work and is waiting on the sidewalk when I return home. He walks too, beside me, when I walk the dog.

Pickles is the a cat that no one wanted because his fur looked as if he had gone through shock. Today as a grown and has beautiful long fur with a fluffy tail.

Then there is Sprout, the silly dog, that I have had for over a year. She had not been given the love puppies need nor discipline and was mildly abused This year she has attended obedience school and I am now able to schedule "doggy play dates".

All these animals came from BARCS and otherwise would have gone to a shelter that would have put them to sleep after a waiting period.

BARCS needs your donations so they can continue to take care of the animals that have fallen upon hard times. All of the wonderful people that care for these unfortunate animals are volunteers, including myself, that understand that even animals need out constant care and love.

And that's what Sprout, Billy Ripken, Pickles and I are trying to do.

You will find the link below that will take you the BARCS donation site. You don't have to give alot. The smallest amount will be so appreciated. My fundraiser goal has not been met yet and I did not set it high because I know these are hard times for most of us.

If I meet my fundraising target Sprout will get to parade around in his Shark costume and Pickles dressed as a Pumpkin for Halloween.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for you kind donation and all the animals at BARCS thank you too.

Deborah Northam

FirstGiving - Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter Inc - Sprout and Pickles Page
Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

If you have any questions please feel free to email jmmb.
And if you are a frequent reader of this site you have seen some of my pets.

Baltimore Police Detective Killed Over Parking Spot

An off-duty Baltimore police detective, taking part in the Canton nightlife on the eve of his birthday Saturday, was killed after being struck in the head after an argument over a parking spot, police said. He would have turned 38 today.

Brian Stevenson, an 18-year veteran and married father of three, was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center not long after he was attacked in the 2800 block of Hudson St. at about 10 p.m.

Acting on information from witnesses, police arrested 25-year-old Sian James later Saturday night at a downtown club. On Sunday afternoon, he was charged with first-degree murder.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III told reporters outside the hospital that the argument was "incredibly petty."

"It's an incredible tragedy for the family, for all of us," said Bealefeld, who spoke with Stevenson's family members along with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "The city's losing … we're losing a fantastic detective who works to make people safe in this city. It's just senseless."

Stevenson grew up in the city and went on to investigate shootings and robberies in the Northeast District. He went to have dinner with a longtime friend near Canton Square when an argument broke out in the parking lot of an eye care clinic. Residents say the neighborhood is typically jam-packed, with some area bars offering valet service and drivers jockeying for precious parking spots.

Police sat James picked up an object — a rock or piece of concrete — and hurled it at Stevenson, striking him in the right temple and causing him to fall to the ground.

Stevenson lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

James went on to a club in the Power Plant area, where officers found and detained him, police said.

Stevenson is the first city officer to be killed in an attack since January 9, 2007, when Officer Troy Lamont Chesley Sr. was fatally shot during a robbery while he was off-duty in Northwest Baltimore. Last month, Officer James Fowler died after losing control of his vehicle while driving to a training program in Pennsylvania.

Friends recalled Stevenson as a jovial man who was one of the department's snappiest and unique dressers, pairing wild colors and patterns. Detective Thomas Jackson, a homicide investigator who worked with Stevenson in the Northeast District investigating shootings and robberies, said Stevenson was called "Smiley" because of his consistently upbeat mood.

As a detective, Jackson said, Stevenson was able to relate to those he interacted with in the streets. He grew up in the city and graduated from Dunbar High School, Jackson said.

"He loved doing his job, and he made sure his family was provided for," said Detective Sandra Forsythe, who continued to bring baked goods to her former partner after she moved on to the homicide unit this year.

Stevenson was featured in a 1994 Baltimore Afro-American article about the first class of officers to graduate under the then-new police commissioner, Thomas Frazier. His mother beamed with pride when discussing her son.

"I think that it is wonderful because he's doing something for society," Sheila Dorsey told the Afro. "He has always been the type of person who would help other people in any way that he could. I know that he will be a good police officer, because he has the Lord on his side."

At the scene, neighbor Tricia Zebron said that the neighborhood is typically chaotic on weekends. She said parking spots are hard to come by - her car was parked in the same lot where Stevenson was struck, though there are "private parking" signs posted that warn that driver's will be towed.

"It's a circus every weekend here," she said.

The suspect, James, lived around the corner in the 2800 block of Dillon St.. Court records show he was charged in July with attempted rape, third-degree sex offense, assault and false imprisonment. Initially held without bond, he was released in mid-September on $150,000 bond. Details of that case were not immediately available.

Records also show that in late July James was ordered to stay away from a woman who had filed her second protective order against him in a span of four months. Reached for comment, a man who answered the woman's phone said that they could not discuss James because of an "ongoing situation."

Outside the emergency room entrance at Hopkins Bayview on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, dozens of officers in uniform or street clothes stood solemnly. Some were retired officers. There was little discussion. Deep into the morning, relatives of Stevenson continued to arrive.

As one group of officers walked to their cars to head home, they each shook hands.

"Be safe," they said to each other.

Jackson, who investigates city homicides, many over petty disputes and slights, said Stevenson's death was one of the most senseless he could think of.

"All of them are terrible, but a parking spot?" Jackson said.

The driver of a limo parked outside the nearby Clutch sports lounge said he didn't see or hear the commotion from the attack, but he noted that he was an off-duty Prince George's County police officer. "It hurts," he said of news that a fellow law enforcement officer had been killed.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

Suspected Shoplifter Dies After Car Runs Into Concrete Base In Parking Lot

A 22-year-old Baltimore woman — who police say was caught shoplifting Thursday — died after her vehicle ran into a pole in the White Marsh Mall parking lot, Baltimore County police said.

According to police spokesman Lt. Robert McCullough, Lauren Nicole Turner of 1100 block of Ramblewood Road was caught shoplifting at the Ikea in the 8300 block of Honeygo Boulevard in White Marsh at 11:15 a.m. Thursday. Workers took her name and released her from the store.

Around noon, the spokesman said, Turner "was observed driving at a high rate of speed" in the Sears parking lot of the mall, which is next to the Ikea store. The 22-year-old was ejected from the car, a Volkswagen Beetle with Virginia tags, after it ran into a concrete light base. Turner died on the scene.

The crash is being investigated by the Baltimore County crash team, McCullough said.

www.baltimoresun.com

The New State-of-the-Art Forensic Medical Center Opens In Balltimore

The dead won't know the difference.

But the pathologists and technicians who investigate Maryland's 4,000 unexpected deaths each year are said to be "giddy" about the opening of the state's new, $54 million Forensic Medical Center in Baltimore.

The state-of-the-art facility, which fills a city block at West Baltimore and Poppleton streets, will replace the 41-year-old building at Pratt and Penn streets that presently houses the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. It is designed to improve working conditions and speed the autopsy process for families and law enforcement.

The new, six-story building, formally opening today, triples the state agency's floor space, providing state-of-the-art technology to boost efficiency. The old facility was built for 2,000 autopsies a year and now has 16 examiners doing 4,000 annually in a basement room. The new building has enlarged, brightly lit space for up to 23 medical examiners to perform up to 6,000 autopsies a year as the demand grows. The first autopsies in the new space are expected by mid-October.

"The volume of cases downstairs sometimes is overwhelming," said Dr. Mary G. Ripple, the deputy chief medical examiner. When medical students, police academy classes and others come to learn, "there's not a lot of room to move around."

The new center is wired with fiber-optics for digital record-keeping, photography and consultations. There is a full-body CAT-scan to speed autopsies — one of just two in M.E. offices in the U.S. There are bigger and better-equipped labs, six autopsy stations capable of handling some of the most dangerous pathogens, and refrigeration for more than 120 bodies. And, the autopsy space can quickly be tripled in the event of a mass-fatality disaster.

For families of the deceased, there are more-comfortable, private places to speak with pathologists, or to view or post a watch over the bodies of their loved ones, as some faiths require.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David R. Fowler, who has worked on the project for years, said the center's opening "really hasn't sunk home yet." But for his staff, the anticipation is keen: "The look on their faces is just lovely to see."

It has been a long time coming. Fowler said it was his predecessor, the late Dr. John Smialek, who began pressing for improvements more than 20 years ago.

In 1985, the Post Mortem Examiner's Commission described the old facility as underfunded, understaffed and insufficiently equipped. By 1988, demoralized employees were threatening to unionize. They complained of crippled heating and cooling systems. Poor ventilation in the basement autopsy areas sometimes allowed nauseating odors to filter into office space.

The state eventually spent about $2 million on upgrades, Fowler said. But "the number of cases we were seeing was increasing," adding nearly 100 cases annually. Maryland's population is growing and aging. And, except during economic slowdowns, vehicle fatalities have also increased. Through three state administrations beginning with Gov. Parris N. Glendening, efforts to design and build a new facility began slowly before being fast-tracked under then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Health Secretary Nelson Sabatini. The contract was finally signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Alvin C. Collins, secretary of Maryland's Department of General Services, which managed the project, called the new Forensic Medical Center "the most modern medical examiner's facility in the United States."

Only the Los Angeles M.E.'s office is bigger, Fowler said. Most states divide up the work by region or by county. Maryland, being small, is able to bring all its cases to Baltimore. And that, he said, provides taxpayers with important economies of scale.

A survey 10 years ago found the average medical examiner's office cost $2 per citizen to run for a year. Maryland's today still costs less than that, about $1.74 per citizen per year, Fowler said.

The new center's showpiece may be its twin autopsy rooms. The old facility had six stations in the basement. The new rooms have eight stations each, set on opposite sides of large, south-facing spaces with 29-foot ceilings and soaring windows.

"We wanted natural light," Fowler said during a preview Monday. Each station is equipped for digital photography, and "even with the lights off, it's bright."

Above the autopsy tables, there are glassed-in galleries for medical students and interactions with police. "That really improves the final outcome with criminal justice cases," Fowler said.

Ripple described the mood among the assistant M.E.'s as "excited trepidation." The move will be "a little chaotic … but extremely, extremely exciting."
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14 Year Old Girl Charged With Murder In Suspected Gang Initiation

A 14-year-old girl was being charged Tuesday night with first-degree murder for a shooting in East Baltimore earlier this month, a spokesman said.

Arteesha Holt was processed at the Central Booking Intake Center late Tuesday and would be charged in the shooting death of Jose Gonzales, Agent Donny Moses, a department spokesman, said late Tuesday.

Police said the incident was an attempted robbery and may have been part of a gang initiation.

Holt tried to rob two men Aug. 13 in the 100 block of N. Linwood Ave, about a block north of Patterson Park, police said. When the men resisted, police say the girl shot them both.

One man survived, but Gonzales died Saturday from a gunshot wound to his head. The survivor's name has not been released.
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Baltimore Grand Prix Scheduled For Labor Day Weekend 2011

The first Baltimore Grand Prix will be run over Labor Day next year instead of Aug. 5-7, the city and Baltimore Racing Development announced today.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and BRD announced the move today, and also said they will make a series of improvements to the track layout to allow for more fan attractions.

"We are very excited to be able to schedule the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix for the weekend that we originally wanted," Jay Davidson, president of the Baltimore Grand Prix and Baltimore Racing Development, said in a release today. "We have always planned to market the Baltimore Grand Prix as a destination event, and we are expecting race fans from throughout the region and around the world to travel to the race. Having the Grand Prix on Labor Day weekend makes it even easier for fans to make travel plans to attend this action-packed 'three day festival of speed' in downtown Baltimore."

The firm said it worked closely with the city and the IZOD IndyCar Series in order to make the Labor Day weekend dates possible. "I'm very pleased that BRD and IndyCar are now able to accommodate the city's preferred date for the Baltimore Grand Prix," Rawlings-Blake said in a release. "Labor Day Weekend will provide another full day for racing fans to enjoy all that Baltimore has to offer and with any luck, slightly cooler temperatures."

The new design of the course includes moving a pit lane from Russell Street on the west side of Oriole Park to the east side of the complex in the shadows of the historic B&O Warehouse.

With the new pit location, the race track will now circle Oriole Park and open up fan opportunities. Two new turns have been added on Conway Street to slow the cars as they approach pit lane. The new layout also features reconfigured turns 10 and 11, as the previous tight turns become fast, sweeping "S" turns back onto Pratt Street. The first four turns remain unchanged.
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Body Found In Apt. Trash Shoot - No Signs of Trauma Or Foul Play

City homicide detectives were investigating the discovery of a body that appeared to have gone down the trash chute of a downtown apartment building.

An unidentified man's body was discovered in a trash compactor in the 200 block of N. Charles St. at about 10:15 a.m. Thursday by building employees, said Anthony Guglielmi, the police department's chief spokesman.

Guglielmi said a preliminary review showed no obvious signs of foul play or trauma, but detectives were awaiting the results of an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office.


The trash compactor appeared to be on the parking lot level of the Park Charles apartments. A resident said he observed police dusting a trash chute for fingerprints, and that a fire alarm had twice gone off earlier in the morning.
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JURY FINDS KILLER GUILTY OF BEING A GANG MEMBER - A First For Maryland

A Baltimore jury gave out the city's first gang conviction Monday, finding Dajuan Marshall guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and participating in a gang — known as the Spyda Bloods — resulting in death.

Marshall, 28, is said to have killed rival gang member Kenneth "Cash" Jones, who belonged to a different Baltimore set of the Bloods. Prosecutors said Marshall "wanted to run the Bloods' gang in Baltimore and saw Jones as an obstacle," according to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office.

The murder conviction carries a maximum term of life in prison, though the gang conviction could add 20 more years and a fine of up to $100,000, the State's Attorney's Office said on its Facebook page. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 17. Co-defendant Kedar Anderson will be tried separately.

The case is the first to test a 2007 law known as the Maryland Gang Prosecution Act before a jury. It allows for enhanced penalties if prosecutors prove that an underlying crime, such as murder, contributed to a criminal, gang conspiracy. The law was strengthened during this year's legislative session.

In a statement, Gov. Martin O'Malley said he was proud to have signed the act into law, saying it was "yet another tool for Maryland prosecutors to put individuals who terrorize our neighborhoods behind bars."

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That's a real nice thing you did Gov. O'Malley. But how long will you keep them behind those bars?

Baltimore County "Sign Fight" In Court Today

A federal judge this afternoon is scheduled to hear arguments challenging the constitutionality of Baltimore County's regulations on political signs in a lawsuit filed this spring by a man who was ordered by the county to remove a campaign sign from his lawn.

Stephen V. Kolbe of Dulaney Valley Road wants the U.S. District Court to block enforcement of several provisions of the county sign code, including the rules restricting the size of political signs based on the zoning of the property and the rule allowing such signs only 45 days before an election.

Kolbe, who runs a computer consulting business out of his home, took down the 4-by-8, blue-and-white sign backing former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in his re-match with Gov. Martin O'Malley. The rules say that in his residential area, Kolbe cannot display a sign larger than 8 square feet.

The case is being heard in Baltimore by Judge Catherine C. Blake, who ruled three years ago that the 45-day provision was unconstitutional and barred the county from enforcing the rule. Kolbe argues that the county is still enforcing it, as the code enforcement officer who came to his house jotted the rule number on the "correction notice" taped to his side door. The county has argued that the notation was a mistake.

Kolbe's suit argues that the campaign sign restriction based on property zoning effectively governs political speech according to what type of property a person owns and where it's located. The suit argues that the rules violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

In the meantime, the county is pursuing limited enforcement of rules on political signs. The county will be keeping files on complaints but is issuing no notices of violation for political signs.

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Floating Wetlands Project Finds Home In Baltimore's Inner Harbor

Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once ringed by wetlands, but over time they gave way to development until only one was left.

Now there are two.

Volunteers in kayaks, a small boat and a canoe towed a "floating wetland island" from Fells Point — where it took form — to the waters alongside Baltimore's World Trade Center on Sunday. Tourists stopped to gawk and snap photographs as the environmentally friendly flotilla made its slow way along the harbor, the cargo more eye-catching in its greenery than anything else in the crowded waterway.

The Waterfront Partnership, a nonprofit that maintains and promotes the Inner Harbor area, installed the 200-square-foot wetlands as one small part of an ambitious goal to make the polluted harbor swimmable and fishable in 10 years.

"It's going to take all of us rolling in the same direction, but we believe it is possible," said Laurie Schwartz, executive director of the partnership.

It took a lot of people just to create the floating wetlands, which will soak up pollutants, produce the oxygen that's critical for healthy water and provide a place for crabs and other aquatic critters to live.

The Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, a water-quality watchdog group, paid the $50,000 cost from an air-pollution settlement fund. Biohabitats, a Baltimore-based ecological restoration firm, designed the wetlands — 11 separate rectangular structures made of plastic bottles plucked from the harbor, mesh and wood. Then, students with the Living Classrooms Foundation in Fells Point built the structures and planted them with marsh grass and flowers.

For weeks, the manmade wetlands floated beside the one other example left alongside the harbor — Living Classrooms' own marsh. Sunday morning, they headed off by boat and kayak to their permanent destination in tourist-heavy waters.

"Oh, here it comes — here it comes!" cried Schwartz, catching sight of the motorboat towing the first few pieces of wetlands toward the World Trade Center. She waved her arms and grinned, saying later that she felt just like an excited relative seeing a long-awaited baby for the first time. Mary and Jerry Nonnemacher, who live in Reading, Pa. and sailed into Baltimore for the weekend, watched this unusual parade and wondered what it was all about. Katie Bradbury, a 24-year-old from Fells Point, caught sight of the wetlands leaving Living Classrooms and followed them to find out where they were going. And Donna Davis, who works at the World Trade Center, dropped by to take pictures of kayakers pushing the structures into place alongside her building's pylons and roping them together.

Davis, an administrative assistant, knew the goal was better water quality. She hopes it works.

"If it helps, that's fantastic," she said.

Aquatic life is already responding. The underside of the wetlands is a hang-out spot for baby crabs.

But it would take a lot more than a marshy island the size of a bedroom to turn Inner Harbor water — which come from rivers rated "F" by an annual University of Maryland report card — into a safe place to take a dip or catch a fish. So much of the trash and pollutants that damage the water start off far upstream, from oil washed off roads to fertilizers running off suburban lawns.

That's why organizers hope the wetlands act as a conversation starter for passersby, making them think how their ordinary activities hurt or help the harbor.

And the newly installed floating island won't be by itself for long. The National Aquarium, just around the corner, is assembling its own on Wednesday. More might follow.

"It's a very small island in … a fairly big body of water," said Laura Bankey, the aquarium's manager of conservation. "We really only expect to see local changes. But that'll give us an idea, if we scale up this project, what kind of an effect could we have."

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Johns Hopkins Researcher Buried In Florida

North Palm Beach, Fla. —

The wooden pews were filled Friday morning as friends and family remembered slain Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn as a young man with an "intense" and "inquisitive" nature.

"He grabbed you and you just wanted to be where he was," said Chris "Suds" Southard, youth director at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach, Fla., where the funeral was held.

Standing behind the pulpit, Rev. Ronald Hilliard tried to comfort the grief-stricken, still reeling from the death of the Jupiter, Fla., native who was robbed at knifepoint Sunday night while walking to his Charles Village apartment.

In North Palm Beach, the reverend urged that the family not to lose sight of the vibrant life Pitcairn was able to lead.

"The value of life is not in longevity … the value of life is based on the quality of the chapters that God has written," he said.

The funeral brought together those who knew Pitcairn throughout his life, cut short just two days before his 24th birthday: graduates from The Benjamin School, which Pitcairn attended for 14 years; classmates from Kalamazoo College in Michigan; and colleagues from Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore.

"We are just devastated as a school community," said Robert Goldberg, head of school at The Benjamin School. "Our heart is just so heavy for the Pitcairn family."

Pitcairn, a researcher at a cell engineering laboratory on the Johns Hopkins medical campus, was on the phone with his mother, Gwen Pitcairn, around 11 p.m. Sunday when he was confronted by a man and a woman in the 2600 block of St. Paul St., police say. His mother listened as he pleaded with the robbers and was stabbed in the chest.

Authorities have charged John Alexander Wagner, 34, and Lavelva Merritt, 24, who police say were "hunting to rob someone," with first-degree murder in his death.

During the 90-minute service, Hilliard urged the family not to focus on the tragic circumstances surrounding Pitcairn's death. He suggested that the family may be wondering what would have happened if circumstances had been different.

"We may be sad about the book ending before we were ready," said Hilliard, but that sadness should not overshadow the value and impact that Pitcairn's life had.

"The reality is that in God's eyes, Stephen's life was complete," he said.

Speakers largely avoided discussing the tragic circumstances surrounding Pitcairn's death, instead paying tribute to his Christian faith.

Emily and Elise Pitcairn remembered their brother as intelligent and tenacious. Nancy Reugg, Pitcairn's former fourth-grade teacher, said that many details about the young man had faded from her memory over the years, but his curiosity remained in sharp focus.

The service, held inside First Presbyterian's flower-filled sanctuary, featured a number of quotations from Psalms. Those in attendance sang "Amazing Grace" and watched slides of pictures of Pitcairn, accompanied by music played by his former guitar teacher.

Some of the photographs of Pitcairn as a small child elicited sniffles, tears and even momentary laughter. One photograph featured a young Pitcairn wearing oversized sunglasses, and, momentarily, people laughed.

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This murder didn't have to happen if the court system cared about who they released back into society.

Baltimore Lab To Conserve Remains of Ship Found At World Trade Center

A conservation team from Maryland's archaeology lab is in Manhattan this week, working to recover the remains of a wooden sailing ship found buried at the World Trade Center site.

The ship's fragile timbers are being extracted from the muck, wrapped, labeled and packed for shipment next week to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, part of the Jefferson-Patterson Park & Museum in St. Leonard, where they will be treated so they may eventually be reassembled.

The lab was built, in part, to conserve and store artifacts recovered from Maryland waters.

But over the years, the "MAC" lab has been enlisted to help with many far-flung projects, including conservation of pieces of Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, found off the North Carolina coast in 1996, and a dugout canoe found in New Jersey that the lab carbon dated to A.D. 200.

"Our conservators have a great deal of experience with recovering and conserving waterlogged timbers, such as those found at the World Trade Center," said Nichole Doub, the MAC's head conservator, in a statement.

But the lab's director, Patricia Stamford, said this was the largest shipwreck project the lab has taken on. The process will entail up to a year of soaking in antifreeze, and then freeze-drying to drive out the remaining water and preserve the wood, she said.

The New York ship was found July 13, during excavation work for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. The dig will make way for construction of a new vehicle security center and tour bus parking facility. Workers removing the black ooze 20 to 30 feet below street level struck the regularly spaced and contoured timbers.

Archaeologists on the project identified them as those of a ship dating to the late 18^th or early 19^th century, which was likely placed there as landfill. They then hired the MAC lab to remove and conserve the wood.

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Charles Village Residents Speak Out About Their Neighborhood

These people have every reason in the world to be upset and fed up! But are those in the judicial system listening........and if so, for how long? Bravo, Charles Village residents for speaking your minds.

Marc Unger had had enough. The comedian and Charles Village resident was standing at the foot of a memorial for Stephen Pitcairn, the Hopkins student slain near Unger's home Sunday, listening as politicians took "We are in fear!" Unger yelled, interrupting Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.

Unger described how he was asked by police to try to identify the body, and how he hasn't been able to get the image out of his head. He chastised a police spokesman for calling the stabbing an "isolated incident," pointing out that another man was killed a block away earlier this year. (The spokesman has since clarified that he meant that Pitcairn wasn't targeted). He said what happened to Pitcairn could've happened to anyone living or passing through the neighborhood.

Politicians promoted the event as a show of solidarity, a press conference where each to go before the cameras and call for an end to violence. But dozens of residents showed up, standing on either side of the podium, with the intention of expressing their concerns, and some grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of substantive talk. After all, there have been two other such events nearby this year alone, along Greenmount Avenue (after a 72-year-old Afro newspaper employee was shot at a carryout) and in Guilford (after a resident was robbed and locked in his own trunk).

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III matched their outrage, raising his voice above

the street noise to condemn the failures of the system as veins popped out of his neck.

"We're sorry we failed," he began. "We're sorry we failed to protect you."

"I'm going to accept my responsibility and challenge myself about what we could've done better. But I want to hear from a lot of other people," he said, in an apparent allusion to the state's attorney's office or city judges. "... These people should not have been on the streets. We've got to get everybody behind this."

Bealefeld spoke about "bad guys with guns," saying he doesn't know what's debatable about keep gun offenders in prison. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who could barely be heard from where I was standing, and Del. Curt Anderson both spoke about supporting gun legislation in the next legislative session.

Of course, Pitcairn's killers weren't "bad guys with the guns" in the sense the public officials were talking about (and wasn't Pitcarin shot). True, John Alexander Wagner, one of those charged in the killing, has handgun and armed robbery convictions from 1991 and 1993 for which he received considerable prison sentences at the time. But in recent years, Wagner's crimes were for assaulting his then-girlfriend and driving a stolen car. He was charged by city police with armed robbery in April, though police never recovered a weapon despite catching Wagner as he ran from the scene.

That charge was later dropped because prosecutors say the victim refused to cooperate, and there is debate over whether prosecutors could have done more to keep the case alive. Regardless, gun legislation would have done little to change what transpired.

As the Sun reported Wednesday, Wagner received suspended prison sentences for his most recent crimes and was put on two concurrent probations in the city and later Baltimore County, never forced to serve any of his sentence despite repeatedly running afoul of his probation. He failed to check in with his agents, failed to take required anger management classes at the House of Ruth, picked up new criminal charges on three different occasions, and failed to attempt to pay restitution to one of his victims. Judge John Addison Howard found him guilty of violating his probation, but his probation simply continued unchanged.

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy has borne much of the brunt of criticism, and she stood far away from the officials gathered behind the podium, telling reporters she did not want to politicize Pitcairn's death. Prodded by a television reporter about whether her office had a role to play in fixing the problems that kept Wagner on the street, she noted that her office in recent years has inserted prosecutors into the violation of probation process, a civil matter traditionally handled by probation agents. Now, prosecutors attend the hearings to try to add weight to the probation agents' concerns. Indeed, prosecutors say they asked city Judge Howard to impose a three year sentence at one of Wagner's recent hearings, to no avail.

"I don't have all of the answers," Jessamy said, "but I never stop working and neither do my employees." Earlier city councilwoman Belinda Conaway said debating crime and punishment wasn't the issue, challenging residents to reach out and help those less fortunate than themselves. "There's so many young people, crying out for help," she said.

Nearby, an 18-year resident stood by with a sign: "When criminals slip through the cracks, the city crumbles."

Baltimore Crime Beat/ Peter Hermann

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